- Bafana Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki refuted suggestions that they looked for a point instead of going for the win during Thursday's 1-1 draw against Ghana at the FNB Stadium.
- Bafana trailed in the 49th minute, but pulled the game back through Percy Tau's 52nd minute equaliser.
- SA must avoid defeat against Sudan on Sunday to qualify for their second consecutive Afcon tournament.
Bafana Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki said his team didn’t lose the urgency of needing to win Thursday’s 2021 African Cup of Nations qualifier against Ghana at the FNB Stadium.
The Black Stars and Bafana Bafana, who’ll meet again in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers later this year, played to a 1-1 draw.
Bafana, who played well in patches, had a number of chances to seal the game in the first, but they were wasteful.
They were punished by Ghana in the 49th minute through Mohammed Kudus, but Percy Tau equalised three minutes later.
South Africa then grabbed the initiative from the visitors but they were unable to convert chances and also seemed to be unable to speed up the game.
Ntseki said they did all that they could to win the game, but missing chances let them down. The Group C result meant Ghana have qualified, but SA will have to avoid defeat against Sudan on Sunday to join Ghana in the Cameroon-hosted tournament.
“Saying that we came here not to lose is incorrect. With possession, forward movement and creating scoring opportunities, we’re a team that plays to win. We can’t depend on anything that can happen in Sudan. It was a home game and the plan was to take the game to the opponent. The plan we came up with really worked for us,” Ntseki said.
“It was unfortunate that we missed chances as we weren’t lethal in front of goal. At half-time, we said that possession doesn’t win you games, so it is important for us to be more direct to get goals.”
What made the result disappointing was the fact that Ghana brought a second-string team because of European clubs not releasing their players.
South Africa was affected, but not as badly as Ghana. However, they were without Bongani Zungu, Dean Furman and Kamohelo Mokotjo.
While not bemoaning their absence, Ntseki said they made a difference in the wins against Sao Tome and Principe.
“When we won against Sao Tome, we had Zungu, Dean Furman and Kamohelo Mokotjo and they weren’t here for this game. We needed a new midfield pairing, they were from the same team and they did very well while Ben Motshwari gave us balance in attack and defence."
With Andile Jali also going down injured and likely to miss Sunday’s game, Ntseki also revealed that Zungu, who was on track to meet up with the squad in Sudan, will no longer be joining them.
Ntseki said travelling through red zone countries to get to Sudan made Zungu’s trip from the United Kingdom impractical.
“On Wednesday, we got an email from his club saying that they are no longer releasing him for either qualifier. I then spoke to him to explain his situation and told him it will be a decision that’ll work against me if I force the matter of him joining us in Sudan,” Ntseki said.
“We saw a new list of countries that can be referred to as red zones. We have Ethiopia and Dubai and to get to Sudan, you have to come via Ethiopia and Dubai.”